Utica’s current Zillow ZHVI typical city home value is $213,412, while ZORI typical observed market rent is $1,365 a month. That pairing implies a 7.7% gross yield before every operating cost, vacancy, financing expense and capital outlay. The home value equals 4.07x ACS median household income, and annualized ZORI equals 31.2% of that income. This is an initial affordability and revenue frame, not a property return estimate.
The city has 28,364 housing units; renters occupy 50.3% of occupied units, while 9.7% of all units are vacant. The ACS median owner-reported home value is $151,300 and median gross rent is $951, including contract rent plus selected utilities. Those ACS measures cover surveyed occupied housing and differ in concept and period from Zillow’s typical city value and observed market rent, so they should not be averaged or substituted.
Direct city context shows 52.6% of renter households spend at least 30% of income on rent. Single-family homes are 45.4% of housing units and large multifamily buildings are 9.4%; neither share measures purchasable inventory. Units listed as for rent make up 21.8% of vacant units, but that survey reason measures neither available investment inventory nor lease-up for a given unit. Population was 6.5% higher between the overlapping ACS vintages; this is not annualized and may reflect boundary changes. Median household income is $52,484, while poverty is 27.5% and unemployment 8.2%, descriptive demand constraints rather than causes or forecasts.
At the county scope, Oneida County reported a 2.02% property-tax rate and county listings had a 41-day median market time; neither measures the city. In the Utica, NY metro, jobs were down 0.25% year over year, a demand caution rather than a city employment reading. The Utica, NY metro had 4.2 months of supply and a 97.75% sale-to-list ratio, describing metro bargaining conditions rather than Utica alone. The national Freddie Mac 30-year mortgage rate was 6.58%, a national financing input, not local performance evidence.
The main limitation is aggregation: city Zillow and ACS indicators, county records, metro conditions and the national rate cannot establish a building’s rent, costs, condition or resale liquidity. For a candidate property, verify price, leases, collections, occupancy, unit mix, taxes, insurance, owner-paid utilities, maintenance, near-term capital work, code status and parcel hazards. Recalculate yield and cash flow, confirm loan terms, and do not treat citywide renter share or vacancy as proof of demand.